LSD FAZE TIME: Mechanimal

“If one had to describe Mechanimal with a single reference to genre, then «drone ‘n’ roll», a name the members themselves give their music, would suffice: an explosive concoction of industrial synthetic sounds and krautrock rhythmology, penetrated by a shoegaze guitar-wall of sound and spreading through ten musical tales, told on their first album.” Does their description by their label Inner Earsound intriguing? Well, that’s because it is! Read the interview to find out more about one of the best underground Greek bands Mechanimal and listen to their enchanting sounds.

PAST

Our names are Freddie F. and Ion but you might know us as Mechanimal. We were born in a test lab and grew up in Athens. In our childhood our idols were bandits, poets, artists and outcasts, because that’s what we saw ourselves as. We met in a riot at Syntagma Square and decided to make music for riots. In the summer of 2011 we decided to record what we were doing and see what happens. Since then we sold out our debut album, in Greece, within a few months of its release and are now recording a new single.

One of the best gigs we played was at Six DOGS (a local gig and art space) for our album release party. It was so much fun that everyone clapped in the end and even asked for an encore. One of the best gigs we have been to was Swans. We loved the 30 minute deafening bell intro.

PRESENT

Now we live in Athens with our parents. We meet every Sunday and go to church. We sometimes argue when the synchronicity gets lost, but then we quantize. We enjoy beaches and haunted resorts a lot. We can spend hours recording weird whispers in the night. One of our favorite places to visit is Detroit, because we love techno.

On weekdays we often party and on weekends we usually meditate, then work out, then chill..

Our favorite songs at the moment are all old. Some films we watched lately and liked was Berberian Sound Studio, The Hunt, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Moonrise Kingdom. The last series we watched and loved was Hannibal.

We are very inspired by the Dadaists. Our dream is to keep making records. Our worst nightmare is waking up. We love vibing off of the people when we’re on stage and hate hangovers. We are addicted to found sound, we just cannot stop Joy (our dog) from jumping on the couch. We get totally fucked up, when we drink wine and dine.

Local Suicide reminds us of the financial crisis we’re in and the state of this country.

FUTURE

Tomorrow we’ll check Local Suicide and see what happened with this interview. Next month we’re preparing for this summer’s vacation. Next year we’re doing a new album and traveling a bit. In 10 years we hope we’re still not deaf.

HYPOTHESES

If we weren’t Mechanimal, we would be farmers. If our lives were a Hollywood movie, Moby and Moby would have the main roles, because we think their personalities match ours. If we were a car, we would be a 70’s black Mercedes Hearse. If we were an animal, we would be a jaguar. If we were a drug, we would be a speedball. If we were an invention, we would be Tesla’s coil. If we were an object, we would be a rocking horse. If we could date ourselves, we would dress in latex.

If we could play with anyone it would be Aphex Twin. We would like to collaborate with Tricky.

If we had only one wish, it would be peace and health to everyone. We would never invite Baby Guru over for dinner, because King Elephant eats like an animal.

ADVICE

Our word of advice to the reader would be to hang in there, things might get better.